Our source tells us that Awesome Kong recently tried to play hardball with the TNA management to get a pay raise when her contract expired. TNA refused outright and gave her a verbal bashing for bringing her demands to the negotiating table. Apparently, Kong has renewed her contract with TNA, taking a deal very similar to the original deal, but we haven’t confirmed this, yet.

The TNA Knockouts have managed to consistently draw top ratings during their segments and yet, the Knockouts currently make less than the male mid-carders. The pay inequality is expected to remain the same as the Knockouts renew their one year contracts with TNA. Gail Kim may now be under contract with WWE, but still hasn’t debuted on any WWE program. Gail’s ‘state of limbo’ has apparently created the general perception is that the Knockouts haven’t a backup option to working for TNA and thus, lack bargaining power.

To be balanced, The Knockouts have been around for less than a year and have as yet to prove they’re not a ‘flash in the pan.’ The ball is actually firmly in the Knockout roster’s court. They have to prove they have the depth to survive injuries, bad booking and losing top talent. We’re not dissing the Knockouts, in fact, we think they’ve had a great debut year, all we’re saying is a division isn’t developed overnight.

Most businesses don’t develop overnight and Branding requires an infusion of money. To have a Knockout division means TNA is currently pouring more money into the division than they’re making from the division. The Knockout ratings show great potential. The women talent in TNA have to focus on developing their product, upping their matches in the ring and making the Knockouts everything us fans believe they can be. With the great work already done by the Knockouts, we believe their payday will happen- down the road.

Will Cristy Hemme become the new Knockout Babyface?

Honestly, when we read that RAW 800th episode would feature a 16 Diva Royal Rumble, we immediately thought that Gail Kim was about to debute on RAW. Then the Fabulous Moolah came out and our hopes were dashed- although it’s great to see the ‘First Goddess of the Squared circle’ still performing. Now our source is telling us that Gail Kim was backstage at the 800th taping and we’re happy to hear- apparantly- Gail’s ready to commit to WWE’s schedule (taking a break was a good idea for Kim, she’ll be working 300 days a year for the next three years).

On reflection, we realised that having Gail come out without a buildup would be a total letdown on what should be an eagerly anticipated- and rating boosting- event. The first official announcement for Gail’s return should be her Tron after a woman’s match and her appearance the following week, or implying a ‘mystery’ woman wrestler in a match while acknowledging her signing with WWE online. Point is, build it up- Ratings on TNA were boosted 300 000 viewers every time Gail wrestled and these viewers should be made aware of her first appearance on WWE! WWE will send a serious signal to viewers by either building Gail and setting aside ten minutes for her first match, or just throwing her into a quick match like an afterthought. Obviously, we’re encouraging the first option and praying WWE doesn’t screw up and go for the second option.

Okay, we’ll calm down. Time to be Zen and say, ‘We will see.’

This is a good time to bring up another thought about the wrestling market. Economic theory states that when demand increases for a product, the price of the product increases and consumers will go to a substitute product, increasing demand for the substitute, in turn shifting the price of the substitute and effecting the price of the first product, which will shift the demand for the first product, ect. ect. We think we wrote that right….

Point is, when demand increases for one product, the quantity demand increases for substitute products as well.

When talent crosses over from WWE to TNA or vice versa, it’s a big deal, which should in theory increase demand for both products. The RAW draft and cross-talent promotion is supposed to mimick this idea, but fails because everyone knows it’s all the same company and there’s no demand for that kind of kayfabe. Wrestling fans are asked to suspend reality to enjoy the matches and we think it’s a sticking point for wrestling fans when explaining their enthusiasm to non-believers. So, wrestling fans like to point out what’s real, the physicality and the competition between promotions. When a promotion scores talent from other promotions, it’s a big deal for fans.

Now, let’s be real for a moment before we continue and point out that WWE is like the ocean and TNA is like a river. TNA is a substitute to WWE, THE substitute and barring a major catastophic event, always will be.

So, why shouldn’t WWE promote TNA?

TNA could be the ‘paper tiger’ (read ‘The Prince’) that WWE needs to boost their ratings. If TNA could only grow their share of the market! TNA isn’t building market share on their own. TNA’s style of booking- turning any momentum the company builds into a swerve- is going to keep the company perpetually under the rader, until it folds. What TNA needs is a boost from WWE.

Is that crazy? Not at all- WWE is the ocean, TNA is the river. A rating boost from WWE could actually lift TNA to near parity with RAW’s low ratings, creating the illusion of an outside threat coming to bring down the ‘WWE Universe’ That sudden growth won’t do TNA a lick of good in the long run, because TNA lacks the resources to hold a sudden spike in their ratings (not that it wouldn’t benefit them) and what’s killing TNA isn’t the market, but their management. What it means for WWE is the ‘real’ competition between rival companies that created the ratings bonanza of the attitude era.

What I’m saying is, TNA needs WWE to do well to grow. WWE needs decent competition to grow. They need each other. Wrestling’s market share on cable is shrinking and that’s bad for both companies. If WWE folded tomorrow morning, TNA would fold tomorrow afternoon.

Now that the point had been made, here’s the contention: WWE is screwing up by refusing to acknowledge the existance of rival companies. ‘WWE Universe’ is a terrible idea because it reinforces an image that wrestling fans have come to associate with ’stale’ programming, that WWE is all there is to wrestling and there is no competition. That contention may stroke Vince’s ego, but, we’ll point out that it was Turner Broadcasting’s interference that cost WCW the war and not anything WWE was doing to win. It’s time Vince got off his laurels and picked a fight with someone!

That brings us back to Gail Kim (although this should apply to all WWE talent, coming in or going out). WWE should build Gail and acknowledge what she did for the TNA Knockouts and then gloat that they have her. WWE should recognize ROH and TNA and pick a fight with their competition. It wouldn’t cost anything to increase demand for TNA and pop them up above the radar for a week and the law of demand says they will in turn, harvest an increase in demand for WWE programming.

But don’t leave off there, WWE should also promote ROH. Let TNA fight for their niche market against ROH, while WWE protects their core market! Be honest, if Larry Sweeny popped up on RAW for a few weeks to cause trouble, wouldn’t you tune in?

All of the Knockouts signed on to contracts last October were signed to one-year deals following their respective tryouts in a battle royal match at the Bound For Glory PPV. Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, ODB and Awesome Kong all have yet to have their contracts renewed.

There’s plenty of speculation about whether or not WWE would be interested in picking up these talents after their impressive showing on TNA iMPACT! this year. Angelina, Velvet and ODB have all tried and failed to break into the WWE mainstage in the past.

Awesome Kong made a short post on her myspace a few days back, titled ‘Lost in Transition.’ “I loved Japan. I love and respect the workers there. We did our jobs, put ice on whatever hurt and didn’t complain. If these bitches here in America think MY spinning backfist is stiff, they should take Aja’s!” We don’t know the backstory behind this, but, if we could only respect the work of one women wrestler the world over, we would go with Kong. We wonder if Kong isn’t considering a return to Japan? TNA should make every effort to keep Kong. As for WWE, well, they’ll only pick up Kong if they’re prepared to have three quarters of their Diva roster on the injury list. Not Kong’s fault- we’ve noticed that many Divas have problems taking bumps properly and we don’t think they could work with a ’shoot’ wrestler like Kong.

ODB isn’t Family freindly so we don’t see WWE approaching her, today. Besides, why would ODB jump ship when she now has the opportunity to advance her career by being the top babyface in TNA?

If there are two Knockouts WWE should look at, in addition to continuing to keep the door open for Gail Kim, it’s Angelina Love and Velvet Sky. The Beautiful People have the best gimmick going for women wrestling in either TNA or WWE. They may actually get the crowd at Smackdown to give the Diva bouts some heat! TNA should be ready to fight for the Beautiful People for the same reason that WWE should want them.

Finally, we think Cheerleader Melissa has been misplaced under Raisha Saeed’s Burka. If Kong leaves TNA, Cheerleader Melissa will probably lose her place on the TNA roster. Melissa is a ‘future legend’ and we think the way she’s being utilized by TNA is crazy!

Is Kong just too much for American Women Wrestling?

AWESOME KONG (w/Raisha Saeed) vs. ROXXI — Bimbo Brawl

Kong quickly went on the attack in this boute, kicking over Roxxi’s ‘tools of the trade’ stacked in a shopping cart, then picking up the cart and nearly taking out Roxxi and a swath of the fans when she threw the cart at Roxxi. After a commercial break, Roxxi put in some offense with trash can lid blows to the head, followed with a kick to the chest that knocked over Kong for a nearfall. Roxxi put in a good offense for a while, blew her momentum by arguing with the referee, used a chair creatively against Kong and ended up with the chair thrown by Kong into her face, sticking into her forehead and opening up a huge gash. Kong finished Roxxi off with an Awesome bomb for the decisive pin. Roxxi’s cut was nasty and gushed blood all over the matt.

Roxxi has embraced short hair and a punk look and it works for her. She’s over as a babyface with the crowd, in spite of, or maybe aided by, being easily the most graceless knockout on the roster. I don’t hold it against her; she’s a hard worker and gives 100% and I hope TNA continues to give her time to build up momentum in the ring. Roxxi cuts easily and each cut seems to be a geyser.

How many layers of mean do we have to cut through to get to the core of Kong’s bad-ass-ness? Throwing a shopping cart? That jiujutsu thing she did with the stick in the ring? Is there anyone even close to Kong’s league in women wrestling today? Maybe her manager Cheerleader Melissa, if TNA ever lets her take off the silly costume and come out with her pom-poms a’blazin!

Winner: Awesome Kong.

After the match, Kong and Raisha wanted to do Roxxi more damage, but ODB made the save. Kong bailed from the ring, using ref Slick Johnson as a hostage. ODB took out her frustration on Johnson with a chair shot that knocked Slick out of the ring.

Okay, seriously, what do you think Roxxi’s thinking right now?

The Beautiful People contest is a one-off that was used to further the feud for Angelina and Wilde going into the PPV. Dunno if that’s a good idea, but we got to see Angelina and Wilde in bikinis. Wilde was smoking in a red, white and blue number. Angelina was hot and dirrrrty in her bikini and just made my night. I could pretty much forget everything else about the event, except for Don West laughing at Angelina’s dirty lymric during the talent segment and admitting to a twisted sense of humour. Way to open up, Don!

Um…yeah. Wow. Pretty much, um…what they think…

Every episode of Karen’s Angle on iMPACT has ended with Karen losing control of the interview and the set getting rearranged by wrestlers. This has become a running joke- I wonder when Karen will take matters into hand and get some muscle to back her up? While some interviews have been pretty lame, I laughed throughout Abyss’s interview. Karen, you’re tough as nails to have stuck that one out!

Abyss: “Before I leave, I wrote you a poem: ‘Karen, you’re skin is golden, you’re eyes are brown, I can take you with me…but you can’t make a sound…”

Ms. Angle: “Oh, god!”

SoCal Val sets the women’s liberation movement back a hundred years, announcing that she was going to hang her engagement ring above the wrestling ring during a Jay Lethal-Sonjay Dutt match and the first person to grab the ring gets her.

SoCal Val: “I know it sounds ridiculous…”

Let’s hope that after Lethal and Dutt beat each other to pulp, SoCal Val steps to the mike and slams both wrestlers for treating her like a piece of meat and leaves both of them laid out flat on the mat.

Okay, on with the evolving situation with the Knockouts. Gail’s gone and the show must go on.

The first match had Kong step in the ring with SHIMMER star Josie Sojourner. She’s going by the name Sojourner Bolt at TNA and worked in the Kong challenge for Slammiversary. Sojourner Bolt does a great job with Kong, giving a lot of offense before ultimately becoming the recipient of a Kong Bomb. I think losing to Kong in a fierce match gives a Knockout more credibility than debuting with a lesser card and winning. Kong and Saeed set up chairs for Bolt after the match and ODB runs out in a powerful rage to make the save!

ODB sends Kong a message, that she doth believe that she, in fact, is the meanest b*tch on TNA! ODB hits a tornado DDT off the rope, gets Kong down and just wails on her until she flees the ring! I loved Kong’s facial expressions during the beat down! In an interview backstage later on, ODB mixes up which day iMPACT is supposed to be on and covers by calling herself a drunk and later implies she’s ‘loose’. Somehow, ODB still cut an AWESOME promo, but I’m not sure if her uncensored mouth is going to get her to the top spot with the Knockouts.

ODB corrects Kong on the finer points of wrestling etiquette, or being a b*tch. You decide.

Wow- does Christy look good in a very low cut blue top and skirt! Christy Hemme does a great job as valet for the Rock N’ Rave Infection, first taking the mike and showing some great skills and then distracting Curry Man to give Jimmy Rave an opportunity. Curry Man’s move to get Christy Hemme out of the way was smooooth… but I’m thinking his chances with Christy are pretty small, especially considering the slaps and lowblow she gave him after the match…

Christy Hemme responds to Curry Man’s suggestion, “Let’s make beautiful music together.”

Jim Cornette talks to Traci Brooks backstage about her proposal to him the month before. Jim Cornette appoints Traci Brooks ‘The Law’ for the Knockouts. Jim gives her some advice about how to get along with him in doing her job; “Wrestlers are products and like products, they have a shelf life. When a product’s shelf life is up, it’s time to move that product out and get a new product.” Reference to Gail, anyone? Lauren Brooke asks Traci what Jim meant by ‘shelf life’ and we get a huge signal which way Traci’s going with her newfound power when she replies, ‘Well, Lorne, you might find out first hand. Excuse me, Lorne; I have some work to do!”

The tag match between The Beautiful People and Roxxi and Taylor Wilde was okay on the whole, with some sloppy moments. Roxxi finally has a clear run at the Beautiful People. Roxxi practically skipped to the ring in her entrance! How cool was ‘The Voodoo Queen’ when she cleaned house? Roxxi ain’t graceful, she’s a down and dirty brawler with a mean right hook. Angelina Love is a total package; she’s solid in the ring, knows what’s going on and is great on the mic. Velvet Sky has to polish her act in the ring. Everything Sky does is great and perfect for her character, but, it’s just not tight. Tayler put in a solid performance, but she’s still having a hard time getting over the crowd.

TNA needs to focus on a feud between Kip James and Rhino and get him away from The Beautiful People. He’s like that guy who crashes photographs; always in The Beautiful People’s way. Kip James could be used better and I’m not buying The Beautiful People need a third wheel. They are in a league of their own as heels and a third wheel- even Kong- waters down their act.

See Velvet Sky in the corner? See Taylor Wilde wondering where Velvet Sky is? Damn!

And that’s the Knockouts without Gail. The Knockouts have deep talent and the ranks have closed. Roxxi finally has the storyline she earned when she took the ladder shot and had her head shaved at TNA’s Sacrifice PPV. ODB has a feud with Kong. Josie Sojourner may get a contract with TNA. Traci heads the Knockouts. If Gail were to look back, she won’t see the gap she left and that’s a good thing.

Gail, don’t ever sweat your choice to go to the WWE. You’ve got great opportunities ahead, you’re friends at TNA can take care of themselves and we’ll be watching for you on WWE.